Last week, freshmen filtered into the Gantcher Center to participate in the Tufts Housing Lottery, a process historically mired in uncertainty for Jumbos. In a recap of the 2008 lottery, the Daily takes a look at the experience of six freshmen with widely varied lottery numbers and dormitory choices.
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Freshman John Atsalis was surprised to find Latin Way doubles available at 6:45 p.m. the day of the lottery. "We're happy," said Atsalis, who averaged 2323 with his roommate. While Atsalis said he felt well prepared for the lottery, he said information from ResLife about non-apartment style dorms would have helped his search. "I think that something ResLife does really well is apartments," he said. "But they don't do that for any other dorms."
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After living with a roommate, freshman Dave Parker will get the chance to live in a single when he serves as a Residential Assistant in Haskell Hall next year. While he was aiming for a single regardless, because he wanted more private space, he chose to be an RA because of its financial benefits. In regards to the housing lottery itself, Parker said that assigning students random numbers is the most logical choice for ResLife. "I think it's probably the best way we can go about it," he said.
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Placed in a forced triple for her freshman year, freshman Doris Lo was given the option to boost her low number in order to obtain a better dorm. Rather than using the boost, Lo chose Bush Hall to be with friends. "Because a lot of us had low averages, we had to go for a 'worse' dorm," she said. Lo is saving the number boost for her senior year, and said that in general, the Housing Lottery easily confuses freshmen. "Especially as a freshman, you don't have a good sense," she said.
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For freshman Sarah Hacking, the lofty ambition of obtaining a quad in West Hall was met last week. Because she had a remarkably high lottery number, Hacking said the stress of picking housing for next year was eased. "It wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be," she said. "I can imagine it would be more stressful for people at the end of the lottery."
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Freshman Greg Marecki, who will reside in a single in Carpenter House next year, said he experienced difficulties when trying to gather information from ResLife about housing. Confused by debates over whether or not juniors would be allowed to join Wren Hall suite applications, the freshman said he, "kept getting different statements from different people."
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Unlike Lo, freshman Isabel Hirsch used the lottery number boost that resulted from living in a forced triple and landed in a double in Miller Hall. Having entered the lottery with hopes for a double in West, Hirsch was forced to settle for her second choice, despite her inflated number. "I'm a little disappointed," she said. "But I was pretty happy about it because it was more important to be with my friends."
